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Trouble Brewing For Leeds And Charlton In The Championship

It was a good day for teams in the lower echelons on Saturday as QPR were the only team to pick up three points in the top half of the table.

The shock of the day came at Elland Road where Bolton put five past Leeds with only a late consolation for the home side in reply. Dougie Freedman may have been dodging the proverbial axe since the start of 2014, but he has turned it around and the Trotters have now scored nine goals in the last two outings. Mark Davies, Joe Mason and Lukas Jutkiewicz have all got the Bolton fans on their feet and it would be churlish to brandish them as 'safe', but the upturn in their fortunes should more than enough to guarantee them Championship status next year.

One team who will be worried are Charlton Athletic who despite having four games in hand, appear to have an uphill task after Yeovil, Barnsley, Doncaster and Millwall all picked up maximum points and have just parted ways with manager Chris Powell. Doncaster took advantage of Huddersfield's ropey away form, beating them 2-0 and it was the same scoreline at Huish Park as the Glovers saw off Sheffield Wednesday. Barnsley held on for a 1-0 win against Nottingham Forest whose crippling injury list isn't helping them maintain their play off position.

Millwall sprung a surprise beating Derby at Pride Park, a Steve Morison header was enough to garner Ian Holloway a much needed win. They play Blackpool on Tuesday whose lacklustre display against Bournemouth should be cause for pessimism. They are now 18 games without a win and are in danger of breaking an unwanted club record. The Tangerines simply must pick up points against The Lions as they follow that with a trip to Leicester.

Elsewhere, Middlesbrough scored their first goals in over 12 hours of football as a Danny Graham double was enough to see of Ipswich who are missing the presence of David McGoldrick up front. Brighton and Reading shared a point a piece and as touched upon earlier, a Ravel Morrison double saw off Birmingham as QPR looked to make ground on Derby.

Sunday played host to a Lancashire derby and the match looked to be Blackburn's until two goals in the last 20 minutes from Jason Shackell and Danny Ings gave Burnley their first win in this fixture since 1979. The Clarets remain in second spot.